Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2010-11: Nathan MacKinnon played for Shattuck St. Mary's U-16 squad. In 34 games, he scored 39 goals and added 46 assists for 85 points, while also picking up 70 penalty minutes. MacKinnon played for Canada Atlantic at the 2011 World Hockey Challenge U-17 Tournament where he scored 5 goals and added 3 assists for 8 points in 5 games.

2011-12: MacKinnon played his QMJHL rookie season with the Halifax Mooseheads. In 58 games, he scored 31 goals and added 47 assists for 78 points while also tacking on 45 penalty minutes. In 17 playoff games for the Mooseheads, MacKinnon scored 13 goals and added 15 assists for 28 points. MacKinnon once again represented Canada Atlantic at the 2012 World Hockey Challenge U-17 Tournament, scoring 1 goal and adding 3 assists for 4 points in 5 games.

2012-13: MacKinnon skated in 44 regular season games for the Mooseheads in his second season, missing time with a knee injury and also when he was with Team Canada at the 2013 U20 World Junior Championship. He scored 32 goals with 43 assists and was plus-40 with 45 penalty minutes; captaining a Halifax team that had the QMJHL's best record and won 58 of 68 games in regulation. In the Mooseheads first eight playoff games he scored 3 goals with 12 assists and was plus-eight. In six games for fourth-place Canada at the WJC he had 1 assist and was minus-one with 4 penalty minutes. MacKinnon was ranked second amongst North American prospects in Central Scouting's mid-season rankings prior to the 2013 NHL Draft, and remained the second-ranked North American in the CSS final rankings.

Talent Analysis

A blend of speed, skill and desire, MacKinnon is not solely an offensive talent, but instead he's one of the more complete players in his draft class. While he still needs refinement in his defensive game and he'll continue to get stronger on the ice, his speed and willingness to throw the body makes him equally valuable at both ends of the ice. Offensively, he slices through opposing defenses like a hot knife through butter and has a quick release that often finds the back of the net.

Future

MacKinnon made the Avalanche roster out of training camp, and is likely to stick with the team for the 2013-14 season. He has already shown some of the skills that made him a first overall selection at the 2013 NHL Draft. It is not a matter of if he will become a top six center but when. So far early in his rookie year he has shown excellent playmaking abilities and can play with a wide range of wingers.

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Photo: Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon led all NHL rookies in scoring during the 2013-14 regular season, and even led all NHL scorers during the 2014 NHL playoffs until the Avalanche were eliminated in the first round (courtesy of Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon had a huge second half of the season to pull away from the field in the Calder Trophy race. His performance in the 2014 NHL playoffs was simply the cherry on top of a great rookie season.

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Photo: Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon is the top NHL rookie in most offensive categories and has totaled 62 points in 79 games (courtesy of Dustin Bradford/Icon SMI)

The Calder Trophy race heads down the stretch and, while Tampa Bay's Ondrej Palat led all rookie scorers in the month of March, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon has tightened his hold on the lead in the Hockey's Future monthly poll.

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Photo: Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has just broken the record for the longest point-scoring streak by an 18-year-old that had been held for 34 years by Wayne Gretzky (courtesy of Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

With the Olympic break in February, most NHL teams played only a half dozen games or so during the month of February. But that was enough time for Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon to widen his lead in the Calder Trophy poll, being a unanimous selection as the leader in the monthly poll by the Hockey's Future staff.

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Photo: Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon turned in a strong month of January to earn the top spot in this month’s Calder Poll, with MacKinnon appearing to be a front-runner for the Calder Trophy heading into the Olympic break (courtesy of Russell Lansford/Icon SMI)

For the fourth straight month, a new player takes over the top spot in the Hockey's Future Calder Poll as Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon assumes the top spot in what was a near consensus among the HF staff.